Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Sound Hearts ❯ Chapter 3

[ A - All Readers ]

Sound Hearts
A Ranma 1/2/Sailormoon S crossover fanfiction
By KaosQu

Chapter 3


Just around that corner. Just around that corner was Ryoga; she
knew it had to be. The feeling practically permeated her now, and all
she could feel was it, flowing all around, flooding her senses
with a faint, melodic hum and a pleasant feeling of coolness. It was
all so different from when she had meet Artemis and Usagi, but that
was probably because it was all so much stronger. She doubted that she
could even sense dark energy the way she was right then. All her senses
were busy being bombarded by... destiny.

the Senshi of Venus thought to herself
as she slid to a halt about 20 feet away from the corner. She wanted
to go running around there full-speed, but every piece of common, and
even uncommon sense, along with her sense of duty screamed at her to
change back first. Actually, her sense of duty screamed for her not
to see Ryoga at all, but since that wasn't going to be happening, it
had decided to play the part of damage control.

A quick glance to make sure that none of her fans were around
and a small flash of light later, and Minako Aino was once again just
Minako Aino.
Strangely, the feeling that was pulling her towards the corner
had just decreased dramatically; right after she changed back. It was
still there, very strong, but nowhere near as strong as before. In
fact, it almost felt like there was a small amount of negative energy
floating around somewhere. Well, it wasn't important. What was
important was that Ryoga was just around the corner.

Taking a deep breath and smiling triumphantly to herself, Minako
shot towards the corner.


"H-Hotaru!" Ranma stuttered out, a hint of panic in his voice,
as he slowly walked towards the girl before him. He had to admit, he
had no idea what the hell to do. He couldn't hurt Hotaru, and that
left him the option of trying to talk to her. Of course, since she was
probably in some sort of seizure-like state, chances of that working
were pretty slim. Add that to the fact that he wasn't exactly good
with words, or even grammar, and Ranma had come to the conclusion that
he was in a bucket-load of crap.

"Get back Ranma!" he heard Ryoga's voice call out. Had he hit
his head in that fall, or did he hear a note of concern for a moment
there?

"No way! I gotta get to her!" he shot back, his eyes never
leaving the figure about 10 feet in front of him, though he tried to
avoid eye contact. That would only reminded him just how different
Hotaru suddenly was. If he thought only about the cute Hotaru, he
wouldn't be so... nervous.

Yeah, nervousness, that was it. Certainly not fear; never fear.
Not of her, never. Fear was being tossed into a pit full of cats, not
helping out your best friend.

"There's nothing you can do!" Ryoga's shouted, his voice a
strange mixture of emotions. Frustration, desperation, and... concern?
No, that couldn't be it.

Pushing his thoughts aside, Ranma focused back on the figure
before him. Except the eyes, that was. Maybe he should have kept
contact with the eyes, but he didn't want to. It was too... he just
didn't want to.

"H-Hotaru..." he said softly, as he neared her. Silently, he
cursed himself; was that one name, significant as it was, all he could
say?! Giving a mental sigh of frustration, Ranma pushed that thought
away. Sure, he hadn't actually figured out what to do, but that wasn't
important right then. All that was important was actually getting to
Hotaru and hoping everything would turn out alright and he'd be back
to peacefully studying with her.

Damn. Even his palms were getting sweaty.

Five feet away, and still nothing had happened. He could feel
Hotaru... the girl's cold eyes on him, and Ryoga's tense gaze on his
back, but nothing had happened. No weird lights, no explosion,
nothing. Yet.

"H-Hotaru..." he once again muttered. And slowly, he lifted up
his arm again. He wasn't sure what he was doing, but it had seemed
to have an effect last time; maybe it would work again this time?

The yellow aura that flared up said otherwise.

Instinctively, Ranma pulled his hands back and crossed them over
his face, prepared to be shot back a few dozen feet again. Vaguely, he
heard Ryoga's shout of warning through the whirlwind of emotion that
was his mind, a small part of it working feverishly on the best way to
take strange, mystical, wave-like aura attacks.



Nothing.

slowly, the pig-tailed martial artist opened his
clenched eyes and dropped his arms, still resisting the urge to fall
into a fighting stance.

He hadn't been hit? What could have happened? Blinking in
confusion, he lifted his head. His breath caught and he tensed as
he saw Hotaru. Her aura had dimmed significantly, but it was still
there; as were the eyes. Whatever small hope that she had gotten
out of her 'seizure' crashed and he stood still for a moment,
contemplating what to do.

He took the first answer that came to mind: continue what he
was doing before.

Slowly, he raised his hand back up again. "H-Hotaru..." Again,
he hadn't been able to come up with some sort of magical speech to
help his friend; only one name that meant more to him than any of his
worldly possessions, meager though they were.

The yellow light flickered, and a surge of hope swept through
Ranma at the chance that Hotaru was alright. Immediately, he made
eye-contact, with the normal, beautiful purple eyes he had seen
everyday the past week. The aura faded away, her body relaxing, and
his spirit soared.

His courage rising, his pulse slowing back down and his muscles
relaxing, Ranma took another step forward, and reached out, taking a
hold of his friend's shoulder.

The eyes flickered yellow for a moment, and Ranma tensed, his
heartbeat re-accelerating as he worried that Hotaru was about to
revert back into 'seizure mode'.

Instead, the girl shifted her gaze, seemingly gazing past his
shoulders, as if looking at someone.

Ranma thought to himself. But before he could continue
pondering that thought, Hotaru's eyes closed altogether and she
collapsed into his arms.



Minako shot around the corner, a huge smile painted on her face
as she prepared to jump into the arms of her new boyfriend as soon as
she saw him.

Instead, she was stopped dead in her tracks by the what she
could have sworn, if she could have right then, was the coldest, most
chilling set of eyes she had ever seen.

The cold eyes, almost looking like they were glowing, caught
Minako in their icy gaze. They stared through the window of her blue
eyes and deep into her soul, as if searching for all the secrets held
within; as if they knew there was something special about her.

All Minako could do was stare helplessly back, a small,
subconscious part of her wishing Ryoga were there and that he'd do
something.

It seemed like an eternity to her, as she stared into those
yellow eyes, paralyzed, her mind comprehending nothing but... nothing.

She felt no fear. She felt no anxiety. She felt nothing, thought
nothing, trapped by the icy gaze of those eyes, her mouth hanging
slightly open, the smile that graced her face gone what seemed like
a millennium ago.

And then the eyes shut close, the face that bore them dropping
down, out of sight.



"H-Hotaru..." Ranma breathed out as he bent down, cradling the
familiar body in his arms. He still felt it: a hint of fear inside
him, that feeling that something was wrong; but weak as it now was,
it might as well have not even been there.

His face grim, hoping that the worst was over, Ranma slowly
rose to his feet, his eyes never leaving the face before him, his...
tension starting to fade away, his muscles relaxing. Steadily, it was
replaced with concern as he stared at the pained face of his best
friend, tense and distorted; he half-expected her to start moaning
again any moment.

"R-Ranma..." a familiar voice wafted in from behind him.

His gaze never left the from once again cradled in his arms, his
mouth practically moving of it's own accord as he asked, "What?"

There was no answer to his question, and Ranma didn't notice,
didn't care. He just silently scanned the form before him, searching
for the signs of injury that he knew was not there. He had learned
enough from Hotaru, and knew enough of her sickness, to know that
her seizures were an internal thing, and thus he wouldn't find any
tell-tale bruises or the like on her being; but searching anyway made
him feel better. It helped alleviate the sense of uselessness that
sat so heavily upon his shoulders. And so he looked.

"Ryoga!"

Ranma instantly paused, tensing. As far as he knew, Ryoga didn't
refer to himself in third person. And then there was the fact that
the voice, hesitant and familiar, was much more... pleasing to the ear
then the one that shouted 'die Ranma's.

A shake of his head and the pig-tailed martial artist returned
to his quick visual scan of the girl before him. Whoever was looking
for Ryoga, it wasn't important. All that was important now was a
certain dark-haired girl whom he liked very much and happened to be
his best friend.



"R-Ranma..."

The soft voice, the one she knew belonged to the person she had
spent so much time looking for, quickly snapped Minako back to reality.

Shaking off the paralytic fear that had gripped her mere moments
ago like she had so many other psychological monster attacks she had
endured before, Minako turned towards the source of the voice.

As she caught sight of the his face, her heart skipped a beat
and all fear vanished, replaced with a breathless feeling of
happiness. For a moment, one brief yet agonizing long moment when
she had been staring at those eyes, she had been afraid... no,
terrified that she hadn't been led to Ryoga after all; now she knew
she had, and all was right in the world.

"Ryoga!" and with that exclamation, a surge of pure joy, she
shot at him with an almost blinding speed.



"Ryoga!"

Hearing his name called out by a strangely familiar voice, Ryoga
slowly turned his head towards the source of the voice, his mind still
numb and his body tensed from the harrowing ordeal he had endured just
moments before.

Before he could even catch a glimpse of whoever had called him,
Ryoga, unarguably the strongest boy in his school and excellent
martial artist, was tackled to the ground in a strong and tight hug.



"Aaahhhh!!"

Ignoring the scream of surprise that had come from behind him,
Ranma rose to his feet. He hadn't really been able to effectively
check Hotaru for injury, but she looked like she was in pain so he
had damn well better get her home.

"Stop messing around Ryoga, and lets go!" he snapped as he
started walking for Hotaru's house, not once looking back.



As Ryoga tumbled to the ground, his martial arts reflexes,
painstakingly honed for longer than he could remember, kicked in.
Secure in the knowledge that he was very likely, one of the strongest
people on the face of the earth, he rolled over, finding little
resistance as he employed one of the unorthodox techniques of his
school and simply jerked himself loose of the unusually strong hug.
Instantly, he pressed his right forearm against his attackers throat,
his left one pressed against the person's stomach.

And then he finally saw who had 'attacked' him.

"Minako?!"

Minako merely beamed a charming smile at the man who had her
pinned to the ground. He was so strong and fast! Even she, who had
fought scores of demonic monsters for who knew how long, was impressed
by the lightning-fast reaction to her hug. It had managed to halt her
happy reunion with him, certainly, but... he was just so wonderful!

Smiling, her heart fluttered as she watched Ryoga blush and
quickly jump off her, giving an embarrassed and nervous chuckle that
made him look so cute and adorable.

And as he reached down and pulled her back to her feet stuttering
apologies, Minako sighed wistfully; he was chivalrous too!

"I-I'm sorry Minako, I-I thought you were..." Ryoga stammered
nervously as he mentally cursed himself. Here he had been spending
all this time wishing he could find Minako, and now that he finally
met her again, he had gone and made a fool of himself.

"It's alright, Ryoga," Minako cut in comfortingly. "I shouldn't
have surprised you like that." Who cared, really? She was just glad
that she had finally found Ryoga. And being pinned under him really
wasn't so bad either...

"I-I still shouldn't have done that..." the Lost Boy protested
weakly. This was all so different and new to him; for once he was
actually apologizing to someone. No, actually that in itself wasn't
too unusual; what was strange was that he actually wanted to apologize
to someone.

"It's alright," Minako repeated, her smile broadening as she
prepared to say what she had wanted to say ever since she had first
run into the handsome boy before her. "How could I be mad at my
boyfriend for something like that?"

The remorseful words Ryoga had been prepared to spout out died
on his lips, his jaw dropping down and his eyes staring off into space
though they were directed at the long-haired girl before him.

"B-boyfriend?" he managed to stutter out. Shock, disbelief,
hope. All those were present in the single, seemingly infinitely
important word he had uttered.

Minako bobbed her head enthusiastically and took Ryoga's state
of shock to her advantage by shooting next to him and wrapping her
arms around him once again.

Now was the hard part. It seemed easy and wonderfully simple to
her how her being with Ryoga was fate, but they never, ever bought
it before. Add that to the fact that there were certain things
involving skirts and super-powers that she couldn't talk about to help
obfuscate matters, and Minako had a touchy subject, to say the least.

She had to handle things delicately. Taking a deep breath,
Minako prepared to try to convince Ryoga that Hotaru wasn't the girl
for him. "I know Hotaru-"

"Hotaru!" the Lost Boy gasped as he heard the name of his friend
uttered. The shy paralysis that had gripped him moments earlier
slipped off and he spun his head around, frantically searching
for the girl.

"R-Ryoga?" Minako stuttered weakly, her arms slipping off of
the bandanna-clad boy.

"Where is she..."

Minako took a step back, a hurt tear starting to form on her
eyes. she told herself. She couldn't give up. She couldn't just
run away again, she had to try. It was fate, wasn't it?

"R-Ryoga?"

"Ranma!" the Lost Boy instead shouted. There, walking further
down the empty street was Ranma. "Wait for me you idiot!"

The only reply he got was a barely discernable shrug. His
annoyance at the pig-tailed martial artist, though, was outweighed
by his concern for Hotaru and the fact that he knew Ranma was
probably just a naturally-born idiot. Muttering a curse under his
breath, Ryoga broke into a jog.

"Ryoga!"

The pained and desperate voice stopped Ryoga dead in his tracks
and he spun around. Minako! How could he forget about her too?!

"Minako," the Lost Boy said, not sure what else to do. "I-I'm
sorry-"

"N-no..." the girl muttered fearfully as he tried to make
his apology, falling a step back, cold fear written on her face.

Ryoga winced, not sure what he had done but knowing he must
have somehow hurt the girl; perhaps by almost leaving her.

"I-I'm sorry I almost left you..." the boy continued, deciding
that he had better just get an apology out first.

The fearful face before him immediately dropped, a relieved
sigh coming out from her lips as soon as the words left his own.

And likewise, he gave his own relieved sigh, glad that Minako
was apparently alright again.

Minako gave a small, grateful smile, feeling relieved and light
with happiness. She had been afraid that he had been about to reject
her. "That's alright Ryoga," she said softly, her smile never leaving
her face. And he had been polite enough to apologize! But Hotaru...
she would have to talk about that later.

"Um..." the lost boy started, his shyness starting to return,
though his impatience to catch up with Ranma was pushing him to
hurry. "I... I have to catch up with Ranma..." he paused, gathering
his courage to ask for something he would very much like.

"Um, d-do you want to..." the Lost Boy trailed off, staring at
the ground as he twiddled his thumbs nervously, thoughts of catching
up with Ranma all but gone, drowned out by a sea of hope and
embarrassment. "D-Do you want to c-come?"

"Of course!" Minako exclaimed, as she happily jumped back
onto the boy's arm, her smile intesifying.

The Lost Boy lifted his face back up, a small, happy smile on
his face. One that felt out of place, but that he had slowly grown
more and more used to the past few days. "R-Really?" he asked
hopefully, not sure why he did, but doing so anyway.

"I said, 'yes'," the blond-haired girl before him replied, her
smile softening as she gripped the Lost Boy's arms..

The Lost Boy's small smile slowly turned into a grin, something
that felt so much more natural to him, something he had witnessed
Ranma constantly do. He had always wondered how his rival always
managed to be so damn positive and grin like that so much, now he
felt like he had an idea why: he was happy.

Before he could reflect on this revelation further, staved-off
thoughts came crashing back into his head and the Lost Boy realized
something very important: he had a lousy sense of direction.

"L-Let's go!" he exclaimed, the shy stutter managing to creep
into his words as he burst out into a light jog, Minako clinging
to his side. He could still make out Ranma in the distance, so
hopefully he wouldn't get lost. Ryoga prayed he wouldn't get lost.
Now was the worst time ever for him to make a fool of himself. Not
that he ever did, of course. Well, not often; not like that idiot
Ranma...



"You're such a klutz, Usagi; you just HAD to mess up our
communicators didn't you?" Rei growled yet again.

"Oh leave me alone Rei!" the blond-haired girl grumbled back
in annoyance. "It was an accident, you don't have to keep rubbing
it in my face!"

"I wouldn't have to if you weren't such a meatball head!" the
raven-haired Senshi of Mars shot back, arms crossed. Usagi could be
such an idiot sometimes! If it weren't for the fact that the klutz
was the princess, Rei would have knocked some sense into the girl a
long time ago.

The princess in question, meanwhile, sniffled, her eyes taking
on a pitiful glaze of tears. "D-Don't call me that!"

"Stop that Usagi!" the dark-haired girl, exclaimed, her
air-headed, *ahem*, friend's tears, after uncountable exposures to
it, having no effect whatsoever on her save making her even more
annoyed.

Waitaminute... So what if Usagi was the princess? That never
stopped her from giving the crybaby a friendly whap on the head
before.

*WHAP*

"Waaaaahhh!!" was the immediate response to the rather crude
technique. "You're so mean Rei!!"

"I wouldn't have to be if you weren't such a crybaby!"

The moon cats and other two Senshi present chose to ignore their
dear, but thoroughly embarrassing friends.



"Ryoga, this way!" Minako exclaimed, tugging her 'boyfriend's
arm to the left as he started veering off to the right. It was so
strange the way Ryoga kept wandering off to the side even though
Ranma was dead ahead. In fact, hadn't Ranma mentioned something
about Ryoga getting lost back at the arcade?

Maybe the poor guy was having a bad day or something. Well, it
didn't matter, all that mattered was that she was with Ryoga! Running
after Ranma to make sure that his friend was alright clinging to
her new boyfriends arm; how romantic! And besides, it was kinda cute!

Well, it would have been better if that friend hadn't also
happened to be HER Ryoga's girlfriend... Feeling the sadness starting
to come back to her, Minako shook her head wildly, shaking away the
thoughts. She would NOT think about that. Ryoga wanted HER! Why else
would they be like this right now?

"Heh heh heh..."

The familiar nervous chuckle snapped Minako back to the present,
bringing a smile to her face and effectively ridding her of any
unhappy thoughts. Oh... he was so cute when like that! The nervous
and embarrassed expression on his face; the spotted bandanna
fluttering wildly in the wind... Oh, this was like a dream come true!

Well... not exactly, but close enough. She was with a cute
guy right out of one of her romantic daydreams and that was close
enough to perfection that she was content.

Happy.

Overjoyed.

"Um, sorry..." another nervous chuckle immediately followed.

Alright, so she was ecstatic.



The world blurred by him as Ranma ran, headed towards Hotaru's
house. He was almost there, he knew. Almost there...

A part of him dreaded those words, but it was outweighed by his
concern for the well-being of the girl in his arms. It didn't matter
what he wanted, as long as Hotaru was okay.

She'd get better, he knew. She always did, but he couldn't just
let that confidence somehow kill her. What had just happened had been
nerve-wracking and he had to get her home. He didn't know what her
being home would do to help her, but he didn't care. He had been
delaying things long enough, he had to get Hotaru home. At the very
least, doing that would make him feel less useless.

Behind him.

Ryoga was behind him. Probably whoever the guy had been messing
around with earlier too. He had heard the Lost Boy's shout to wait
for him, but he had ignored it. He was still in sight, surely the
idiot's sense of direction wasn't THAT bad.

Not a chance in hell, and he knew it.

Oh well.

Maybe he should slow down?

A quick glance down at Hotaru's pained face made the decision
for him. Ryoga could take care of himself; right now, he had to get
Hotaru home.



was Ryoga Hibiki's
general line of thought, followed immediately afterward by a glance
to his left and a small, spontaneous smile.

And when Ryoga turned back to keep an eye on the road, he would
be directed back in the right direction with cheerful words and either
a gentle tug or nudge. A nervous chuckle and apology closely followed
by a happy female sigh and smile.

And so it went, Hibiki running with Aino attached to his left
arm, slowing him down so he wouldn't catch up with the faster Ranma,
despite the pig-tailed boy's holding of Hotaru in his arms. But it
never once crossed Ryoga's mind to suggest that Minako let go of him;
he was happy the way things were. Neither did he wonder how Minako
had managed to endure the long and fast-paced jog.

Minako, on the other hand, did wonder about something. "Where's
he going, Ryoga?" It didn't matter really, but she was curious.

"Uh..." was the bandanna-clad martial artist's hesitant reply.
"I'm not sure."

"Oh," the young girl by him said, not really affected by Ryoga's
ignorance on the matter. She'd find out soon enough and until then,
she was happy the way she was. Well, she was starting to get just a
little tired, actually, but it didn't matter.

*Sigh* was the girl's blissful thought.

"I think he's headed for Hotaru's house, though."

Hotaru.

The mention of the name brought a flood of disheartening
thoughts and memories of boyfriends lost. She tried very hard not to,
but Minako found herself easily disliking the short-haired girl that
was Ryoga's girlfriend.

"Hotaru?" she asked slowly, her grip on Ryoga tightening
slightly.

"R-Right..." the Lost Boy stuttered back, nervousness starting
to sneak back into his voice as he quickly remembered something
important concerning why Minako had left him in the first place.

An awkward silence followed, the strike of feet against
concrete the only sound breaking the uneasy quite and tense
atmosphere.

It was Ryoga who first bravely ventured to break the dreaded
silence, his voice hesitant and nervous, even slightly... afraid.
"Um..." he started, mustering up his courage to say something.

It shouldn't have been so hard, a part of him knew, but he
couldn't help but feel self-conscious and afraid of making an idiot
of himself, which led to him to think things through very carefully
before he did anything, which in turn actually led to him looking like
an idiot to most people. "Hotaru's been hurt pretty badly."

"O-Oh?" was Minako's stuttered reply, her usual confidence and
ability to say more or less exactly what she wanted shaken by a
combination of the awkward subject and actually feeling of sorrow and
worry for her... her rival, Hotaru.

Minako winced as she admitted that Hotaru was competition and
that destiny might have a smaller role in things than she... wished,
than the signs pointed to. And to think, she was actually worried for
a rival, someone whom she had to beat, no matter how easily she knew
she would do it. Well, she was the Senshi of Love; and hate, or even
dislike, wasn't her element.

"R-Right..." the Lost boy muttered, his voice unusually subdued
to those who knew him well.

To Minako, it was the same shy Ryoga she had known for only a
short time, and the girl cracked a smile, half-forced but soon graced
with genuine joy when it did spread slightly across her face.

Ryoga relaxed slightly as he caught a glance of the beautiful
smile, his heart fluttering slightly as he felt some of his fears
relieved. Still, there was no knowing what she would say next, and he
still hadn't told her...

"We'd... better catch up with her then." Minako twitched
slightly, barely noticeable even to Ryoga's usually keen eyes. It had
been harder than she thought to say that, but she meant it, she really
did.

The long-haired girl refused to believe that Hotaru would win
Ryoga over her, but she was still worried for the girl. She didn't
want the girl hurt, she didn't want anybody hurt, and the negative
thoughts that she had directed towards her... rival made her feel a
little guilty.

"R-Right," Ryoga breathed out, his steps not once faltering as
he formed an unfamiliar smile, trying his best to imitate one of the
ones he had seen Ranma crack at Hotaru every so often; the non-mocking
ones that actually didn't irritate him.

the Lost Boy told himself. He didn't
know why he was delaying something so obviously important, as his
fights with Ranma and Minako's leaving had shown, but he just didn't
want to ruin the moment. It was unlike anything he had ever
experienced before, and he didn't want it to end.

And the pair ran on, content in each other's company.



"That's enough, both of you stop!"

The voice, exasperated and even slightly angry, cut through the
shouting and crying, immediately bringing forth a relieving silence.

All heads turned to the black moon cat who had shouted the
command, expectant and awaiting an order like they had done in the
early days, when Queen Beryl threatened humanity.

Letting her words sink in and dramatize the moment like Luna,
trained in the arts of speech, knew it would, the moon cat hopped onto
the table, all heads following her, even Artemis, though he more
curious then anything else.

"Now listen here," the cat continued.

And they did, all were focused and concentrating on the small
yet commanding black form standing on the table before them. Even
the Artemis was silent, not even bothering to come up with some witty
remark to lighten the atmosphere.

This was a Luna they had not seen in a long time. The one that
knew what to do and had all the answers, the true leader of the Sailor
Senshi back in their early days when it was a struggle just to know
what they were fighting for. This was Luna the advisor and those who
heeded her words generally lived longer.

"Usagi may have severed communications with Minako," The cat
stopped to give a disapproving glance at her princess. She wouldn't
be able to do things like that in the future, when Crystal Tokyo was
established and Usagi was Queen, but right now, the girl was her
charge and a little discipline was needed. "but we can't change that
now so let's just leave it behind." This time her look was cast at Rei,
causing the raven-haired girl to flush slightly in embarrassment and
stare down at her crossed legs.

Letting her words sink in for another silent moment, Luna
continued, her voice strong and firm with a ring of wisdom to it.
"I'm sure everything will be alright as there hasn't been a major
attack for months now. And I have faith Minako can handle any minor
demons that may appear"

Nods of agreement from the few people present followed Luna's
words. It was true, the last major threat they had faced had been
Wiseman and the Black Moon Family. After that, there had been the
occasional attack from powerful or not so powerful demons that broke
free from hell, or wherever it was that they came fro; but nothing
too big, like plans for world domination or the like had to be foiled.
It got a little dull, especially for Makoto and Minako, but they all
more or less enjoyed the relative peace.

"Nonetheless, I suppose," Luna mentally winced. She needed to
sound sure of herself, act like she knew what she was doing, and words
like 'suppose' didn't convey that. She was getting rusty, taking so
long to start giving advice wasn't like her either. Well, there was no
helping it now. "that we'd better not take any chances."

"Oh give me a break, Luna, what're the chances of there being
another big enemy coming out today? You're being paranoid," came
Artemis's voice, a slight trace of sleepiness in it.

The white cat smirked as he watched Luna cast him an annoyed
and look. "Artemis, you know better than that! We can't afford to
take chances like that; Minako could be in danger and she won't be
able to call us!"

"I'm sure she can take care of herself, stop being such an ol'
fleabag, Luna!" The white cat retorted, his voice dripping with
confidence, a smirk which he knew annoyed Luna to no end painted
across his face. He saw the logic in the black cat's advice, of course,
but it was his sacred duty to provide an alternate view to anything
Luna said and annoy the hell out of her.

Where was the fun in just... doing things, after all? With the
right touch of humor and playfulness added, the Senshi could do their
work AND be relaxed and confident as opposed to tense and nervous.

"Fleabag?!"

"Yeah, you're getting fat and stingy too!" The white cat bent
his feline legs, ready to leap away from any angry black cats that
happened to try to pounce him and run like crazy.

"Artemis!!"

Artemis smirk turned into an eager smile,
ready for a lil' fun.

He watched as Luna's legs bent ever so slightly, probably not
even noticeable to her. The narrowing of the eyes, the tightening
of the muscles, all tell-tale signs of 'angry-Luna' that he had come
to know like the back of his paw.

"You two are so silly!"

A round of girlish giggles soon followed the astute statement
made by a certain blond-haired girl, calming down Luna and sending
Artemis back to the ground, a content smile on his face.

Well, he hadn't been able to have a jolly good round of 'run
around the temple' with Luna, but at least he had lightened up the
situation. It would've either ended been some fun for him, or someone
interrupting at the last moment and lightening up the ridiculously
serious and dreary words Luna no doubt had in mind. It was a win-win
situation, really.

Yawning, Artemis decided that taking a little cat-nap would be
nice. That was just as satisfying as spending some quality time with
Luna, and the black moon cat in question was starting to babble
something about Ami fixing something now. That was his cue to tune
out and go to sleep. Planning was Luna's specialty after all...



Lifting up a foot, Ranma slammed it into the doorbell, not
realizing or even caring that if he had applied a bit more force,
he would have likely crushed the whole thing.

"C'mon... hurry up..." the pig-tailed martial artist muttered
impatiently to himself, casting quick glances at the girl in his arms
every now and then, her pained expression in turn causing him more
impatience.

"What's taking so long?!" Lifting up his right foot yet again,
carefully balanced on his left, Ranma sent his foot slamming into the
doorbell again. And again. And again.

"C'mon, open up!" he shouted, hoping that his voice might have
more effect than the bell, though he knew it was a stupid thought.
He didn't even care if Kaolinite opened the door anymore, as long as
someone let him in. He didn't know why he thought getting Hotaru to
her bed was so important to him, but at least it gave him something
to do, to make him feel useful.

"Open the door already!"



"Kaolinite..." the dreary voice wafted through the air, calling
out the name of the red-head he knew was behind him. "The daimon has
failed?"

There was a silent moment as the woman winced, the silhouette
before her continuing to pour chemicals into tubes, patiently awaiting
an answer. "My apologies, professor, the egg was destroyed before the
daimon could even be born."

The man paused in his work for a moment, thinking something
through. "I see..." Another moment of silence ensued, the woman
keeping an outward façade of calm. "Who destroyed it?"

The women winced another time as the question was asked. "I...
do not know, but I sensed one of the Senshi in the area soon after
the egg's... destruction."

Another moment of silence passed, only the hum of electricity
letting the woman keep her wits in the face of her failure.

"I see," the man said finally, returning to his work. "Be more
careful in the future Kaolinite."

The woman looked surprised for moment, her eyes widening. Just
as quickly, she recomposed herself, bowing down in apology and thanks
though she knew the man before her did not see her. "Of course
professor, I won't fail you again."

"I'm counting on you Kaolinite," the man replied as he lifted
a tube full of a red-pink liquid to his face, staring carefully into
it. "Go and find another target, I will have a daimon ready for you."

The woman bowed one more time and then vanished in a flash of
blue light, leaving the white-haired man to his morbid work.



"There he is."

Minako stared ahead, and there was Ranma, just as Ryoga said.
The pig-tailed boy was currently slamming a foot into a wall for no
apparent reason, his hands preoccupied holding someone, probably
Hotaru.

"This way, Ryoga!" The Senshi of Love paused her thoughts
for a moment, tugging the Lost Boy's arm to redirect him in the right
direction. "Ranma's this way!"

Another nervous chuckle ensued and Minako gave a brief, small
smile.



"Yo let me in! Hotaru's hurt!" Ranma yelled, slamming his
foot into the doorbell yet again. As the words left his mouth, the
pig-tailed martial artist winced slightly.

If he hadn't brought Hotaru with him...

The young boy shook his head, clearing his thoughts, and
resumed shouting. He didn't want to think about that. Besides, it was
the now that was important; he'd worry about the past later.

"Ranma! Why didn't you wait for me?!"

Ryoga. So the guy actually caught up with him without getting
lost. "Whatever, I ain't got time for this," Ranma shot back, not
even sparing a glance to see whoever Ryoga was with.

Turning his concentration back on getting inside the Tomoe
residence, Ranma lifted his right leg, balancing carefully on his
left, ready to slam it back into the doorbell.

A slender hand quickly darted in his path, beating him to the
doorbell and pushing the button for him.

His attention caught for a moment, the knowledge that someone
was doing something to help get Hotaru in pacifying him, Ranma
allowed himself some respite and he followed the length of the arm
with his eyes, up to a vaguely familiar shoulder and then to a very
familiar face.

"Minako?"

"You should try using your hands," was the girls reply, an
amused smile on her face.

For a moment, he stared at the blond girl standing before
him in surprise, about a hundred questions, many involving a certain
martial artist with no sense of direction, swirling through his
mind.

Another second passed, and the pig-tailed martial artist
flashed an embarrassed smile in return, the presence of humor
lightening his mood considerably.

Then he glanced down at the girl in his arms, and his mood
darkened slightly once more. "I'm holdin' Hotaru..." he muttered grimly
in reply as the feeling of helplessness once again passed over him.

For a moment, though Ranma didn't see, Minako's own face
darkened slightly; but just as quickly, it shifted into one of
concern.

"Is she alright?" the worried girl asked, any jealousy overcome
with her generally caring and compassionate nature.

"She better be..." the martial artist returned softly. "She'd
better be..."

All throughout this, Ryoga was trying to see how many times
he could press the doorbell in one second. This, of course, led to
a lot of rings.



Kaolinite wondered in annoyance
as she headed towards the front door, restraining from breaking into
a run and stopping the high-pitched ringing of the bell.

Maybe it was one of those Witches Five out to mock her about
the earlier... failure?

No.

Except perhaps for Mimet, they probably wouldn't waste their
time with something like that. And they probably wouldn't even have
heard about it yet anyway.

Hotaru would probably not be so rude, even if the girl didn't
like her much; and though that boy who came by everyday now seemed
a little jumpy around her, he was generally polite.

So who was it?



"What's taking them so long?" Ranma muttered, glancing back
down at Hotaru, though it only heightened his sense of uselessness
every time he did.

"Maybe they're not home?" Minako suggested, inching closer to
Ryoga as the situation started to get to her as well. Both the
prospect, no matter how unlikely, of her losing the Lost Boy and
her own concern for that self same... 'rival' getting to her.

She almost wished she were fighting some crazed monster bent
on world domination. But that would mean leaving Ryoga, so she shoved
those thoughts aside and leaned slightly on his arm.

Ryoga tensed up involuntarily as he felt the girl lean on him,
relaxing after a few seconds, almost sighing in content.

Ranma continued muttering darkly to himself.



Lying amidst a clutter of Styrofoam cups, a balding martial
artist by the name of Genma Saotome opened his mouth... and belched.

"I wonder where that son of mine is..." the Master of the
Anything Goes School of Martial Arts wondered aloud, slightly
groggy from his... meal.

A moment of silence passed, the bespectacled man apparently
deep in thought. Moment after moment passed and the man still lay
among the pile of trash, his breathing slow and steady.

Finally, with a slight grunt, the man pushed himself upright,
a few of the Instant Ramen cups tumbling down his body and to the
ground.

"Well," he started, a hand reaching up and rubbing his chin
thoughtfully as a smile started to spread across his face. "At least
I got more food."



"What is it?!"

The voice, cold and hard, cut through the air, nearly sending
the three teenagers currently conscious jumping out of their skins.

Already, Ranma had staggered back a few steps, instinctively
straining to figure out how best to fight with a person in his arms.

Ryoga was merely frozen in place, a surprised and nearly...
scared expression on his face, a finger still hovering before the
doorbell.

Minako was pressed back into a wall, her face tense and
cautious, one hand held out defensively before her, the other pressed
against the wall behind her back as if hiding something.

There was an audible silence, all four conscious and one
unconscious people silent, one gazing impatiently at the group, the
others frozen in place, tensed and on edge or not even awake.

"Well?" the red-headed woman standing impatiently in the
doorway asked again, shifting her gaze to take each person in.

Another moment of silence past, no one saying another word,
not even a breath coming from the lips the three teenagers.

Ranma was the first to regain his wits, and took a small step
forward, unconsciously pulling Hotaru closer to him as he spoke.
"H-Hotaru's... S-She's..."

The red-head shifted her gaze back onto Ranma and then, down
to the form held protectively in his arms, neither noticing nor
caring the discomfort she was causing the pig-tailed boy.

Ranma tensed, the words dying off his lips as he expected
Kaolinte to start screaming at him at any moment, blaming him for
Hotaru being hurt.

"Another seizure?" she asked in a manner that would have sounded
almost bored if the teenagers had been listening more closely.

Yet another moment of silence passed.

Ranma stared, his jaw dropping down in disbelief at Kaolinite's
indifference to the situation. He had been expecting to be yelled at,
have his friend's father called out to shouted by.

But this. Kaolinite didn't even seem to care, as if this were
just another normal routine of life or something.

"Y-Yeah..." he muttered, his voice gaining strength and just a
small amount of anger starting to enter his mostly-nervous mind at
the indifference shown to his best friend, the nicest girl he had
ever met.

"I see," the red-head replied, her voice cold as ice and
showing about as much concern as a murderer did his victim.

"Take her to her room." And with those words, Kaolinite turned
around walked away, her brisk steps clicking against the floor as she
disappeared from the trio's view.

Yet another moment of silence past, no one saying a word, all
staring at the space Kaolinite had occupied, two with jaws agape,
the third an expression of disbelief and... dislike painted across
his features.

Silence.

The wind blew gently across the area, rustling the three's hair,
and still, no one said a word.

"Well, what are you waiting for?"

"AAAAAHHHH!!" was the unanimous reply from the trio.

Three figures shot back a good ten feet, expressions of shock
written across their faces as the cold voice penetrated the silence
with the full impact of thunder.

This time, Ranma was able to find his speaking voice
significantly quicker. "W-Whaddya do that for?!" he demanded, his
eyes wide, his breath coming in quick, ragged gulps.

Kaolinite... smiled, something Ranma had never, never! seen
the woman do before.

He wasn't the only one scared by it.

"Just take her back to her room, or do you want her to get
sick?"

"R-Right sorry..." Ranma muttered back, his head unconsciously
drooping down in shame, the almost insignificant amount of anger he
had been developing flickering away as he realized he had been...
endangering Hotaru with his hesitance.

The woman snorted, a condescending sound, brimming with
superiority. "Stop apologizing and do something useful." And with
that, she turned around and vanished once again.

Another moment of uncomfortable silence passed.

This time, it was, Minako who was first able to speak, a hand
still held behind her back, the other thrust protectively in front
of her. "W-Who was that?"

"K-Kaolinite..." Ranma managed to mutter back after another
moment of silence.

"W-What... she?" the girl continued, her question now reduced
to being barely understandable.

"L-Later," the pig-tailed martial artist muttered back, shaking
his head wildly in an attempt to get a hold of himself. ""Let's get
Hotaru outta here..." the martial artist trailed off, glancing at his
two companions and finding comfort in the sight of them being just
as... surprised as he was.

Then, he shook his head one more time and broke into a jog
through the double doors of the Tomoe Home.

A moment later, Minako followed, pulling Ryoga behind her.



Ranma stared silently down at the slumbering girl tucked
snugly into the bed before him, illuminated by the soft light of
hanging lamps, an ethereal feel to her. The face, so... cute, was
once again peaceful, a small smile even gracing the delicate face,
her breathing slow and steady once more.

Smiling slightly himself, the pig-tailed boy leaned back into
his chair, yawning tiredly. Shaking his head in dismay, he cast a
glance at a conveniently-placed clock. The day wasn't even over yet
and he was already worn out.

But it had been one heck of a day. He couldn't remember ever
having so many nerve-wracking experiences in a row since... well,
he'd never had so many in one day before. His ego was... slightly...
bruised as a result.

Still. It wasn't so bad.

Casting a glance back down at the peacefully sleeping girl
before him again, Ranma smiled once again. As long as Hotaru was
okay, it didn't matter. Most... well, a lot of it had been pretty
fun, after all.

And maybe Ryoga wouldn't be so annoying now that he had
somebody with a brain to keep him out of trouble. Casting a glance
at the couple sitting on the ground, back against a wall, the young
martial artist smiled yet again.

Ryoga was staring off into space, a small but silly-looking
smile on his face; Minako asleep, her head resting on the Lost Boy's
shoulder, a peaceful and content expression gracing her features.

he thought
to himself, his face hardening suddenly. Hotaru was definitely NOT
Ryoga's girlfriend, and he didn't want Minako going around thinking
like that. He just... didn't want Hotaru to be forced into some
annoying mess; her life was already bad enough what with all the
stupid classmates and psychotic assistants.

It would probably be a little embarrassing, and he had to admit,
he didn't know to much about how to deal with girls. He got along
great with Hotaru, but she was different, special. Dealing with
Minako would probably be a lot different from what he had seen of
the cheerful girl's behavior.

Heh, it'd be great to watch Ryoga stumble through the thing.
After all, if he, Ranma Saotome, didn't know what to do, how the
heck could Ryoga possibly figure it out?

Still, he did hope the two got along. Got together. Became an
item. Whatever they called it. Living on the road all his life hadn't
exactly taught him the workings of teenage society.

Anyway, they'd have to talk to Minako about that.
he thought, smirking slightly.

Well, they'd do that later. Right now, he just wanted to enjoy
the moment. Everything was just so... nice and relaxing. It wouldn't
do to have everyday so quiet and tranquil, of course, but a bit of it
now and then at the right time was great, like a good night's rest
after a hard day of training.

Yawning, the young martial artist closed his eyes and drifted
off into a pleasant and much-needed sleep.



Styrofoam cups shoved safely into a corner of the living room,
Genma Saotome nodded in satisfaction. Nothing like a satisfying meal
and a clean area to rest immediately afterwards.

Glancing around, the man nodded absently to himself once more
as he reassured himself that all forms of trash had been securely
relocated to a distant corner of the room by the window.

Well, it was time to rest up. He had a son to train after all,
and he needed his strength.

At the thought of Ranma, however, Genma frowned, suddenly.
the aging martial artist wondered
slightly annoyed that the boy still hadn't come home yet. Where could
the boy go, anyway?


the martial artist decided. After
all, the only other thing the boy could be doing was training or
sparring with that... Ryu or something. Either way, Ranma was
bettering himself to be a worthy heir to the Saotome School.

Smiling proudly, Genma's thought gave a quick turn to what it
would be like to have an intelligent, powerful martial artist to carry
on the Anything Goes School.

Ah, the days of retired bliss he'd enjoy with wife and friend
Soun; he could hardly wait until Ranma was ready. The wedding would
be truly great, one worthy of the great union of two of the three
arts of Anything Goes.

The boy would probably be angry at missing out on the Ramen
though...

Oh well.

The memory of his feast of Instant Ramen coming back to him,
the balding man shrugged and smiled slyly to himself. The boy was
missing out on some good food. Well, he needed to be toughened up
anyway.

Smiling to himself, Genma wandered over to his sleeping bag
and lay down, yawning. Pulling the covers over him, the martial
artist closed his eyes and drifted off into a blissful sleep, his
last conscious thoughts dwelling on the merits of having carpet.



"You mean..." Minako said, trailing off, her jaw dropping as
the Lost Boy's words left his mouth.

Ryoga nodded in reply, squirming nervously as the girl
apparently stared at him. Maybe he should've told her sooner, but
now seemed as good a time, if not a better one than he thought.

"Yeah, Hotaru ain't his girlfriend," Ranma cut in, shifting
his gaze from Minako's disbelieving look to the Lost Boy's nervous
and embarrassed one.

"I can't believe you didn't tell her yet" the pig-tailed
martial artist continued, rolling his eyes and shaking his head
in disbelief. "I mean, what were you waitin' for, New Years?"

"Shut up, Ranma..." the Lost Boy muttered back, sending a weak
punch in his rival's direction.

Ranma quickly stepped to the side, not letting the Lost Boy so
much as touch him. Sure, he could tell that the attack wasn't strong
enough to even annoy him, but he, or more specifically, his pride
wouldn't let him do something like allow Ryoga to hit him.

"Man, I can't believe you guys got things so screwed up," Ranma
said with a smirk, refusing to just forget the whole thing. "I mean,
why would Hotaru even want to be Ryoga's girlfriend?"

"Hey! What the heck does that mean?!" the Lost Boy demanded, his
head shooting up at the insult.

Ranma snorted, rolling his eyes once again. "What do you think
I'm saying?"

Inside, he smiled; Things had been so hectic before getting to
Hotaru's house, it felt great to have an argument with Ryoga, even if
the stubborn guy was generally annoying during those little exchanges.

Ryoga smirked, the desire to beat up Ranma not nearly as strong
as it had used to be. He strangely felt more of a need to beat the
guy at his own game; namely, verbally humiliating him.

"That you want Hotaru to yourself?" the Lost Boy suggested, as
opposed to the angry lunge at his rival's throat he would have made
just a scant day before.

Ranma's smirk faltered and then disappeared altogether at the
unexpected route Ryoga had chose to taken. "W-What the heck are you
talking about?"

"You just want Hotaru all to yourself!" the Lost Boy accused,
jumping back a step and casting a glance at Minako to see if she
was going to say anything.

Seeing that the girl was still gaping into space, the Lost Boy
turned back to the pig-tailed martial artist before him, slightly
disappointed. "You just want to kiss her; why else would you stay
every night all week?"

"Ah, shut up," Ranma retorted, quickly getting over his
surprise, though his face heated up slightly as certain memories
came back to him.

"What about you and your girlfriend?" The pig-tailed martial
artist paused, gesturing at the still staring Minako. "I remember
you screaming back there, what the heck were you doing?"

The Lost Boy's own face, in turn heated up, though it was much
more apparent than Ranma's reaction, as he remembered that incident
when Minako found him.

"I-I was just surprised..." he muttered. "I thought she was
attacking me!"

Ranma blinked, giving Ryoga a curious look. "Attack? What the
heck are you talking about? What did you do to her?" Ranma himself
didn't really have much of an idea on what he was implying; he just
needed something to defend himself with and had grabbed the first
thing that came to mind.

The Lost Boy's face heated up even more as he opened his mouth
to reply. "I-I just pinned her-"

"Ranma..." the voice muttered softly, followed by the sounds
of movement.

Spinning around, away from the Lost Boy and still-staring
Minako, Ranma grinned as he saw his best friend, Hotaru, sitting
upright on her bed, gently rubbing her head.

"'Bout time you woke up, Hotaru!" he exclaimed, relief
suddenly flooding back his body, much to his surprise. He had checked
Hotaru over in what seemed like a thousand ways for any signs of
injury while she slept and assured himself that she'd be alright.
The only thing that stopped him from checking some more was his
respect for her privacy.

Quickly shoving those rather embarrassing thoughts aside, Ranma
focused back on the slender girl sitting on the bed. "It was startin'
to get boring arguing with Ryoga here."

The martial artist's grin softened into a pleasant smile, his
heart fluttering slightly, as the girl smiled back, the soft light
giving her a pleasant aura of... something nice.

"Ranma..." the girl muttered again, shaking her head and
turning all the way around to face him, the pleasing smile sill
present.

"Yeah?" the pig-tailed boy asked as he reached the side of her
bed.

The smile gave way to a confused and curious expression as
the short-haired girl asked, "Why is Minako hitting her head against
the wall?"

His ears picking up the dull thuds, Ranma turned around to take
a look at the sight. In reply, he could only laugh.


To be continued...



Author's Notes

Finally, another chapter finished! This one took awhile too,
since I did little to no writing the first two weeks of March.

But hey, at least I got it out, even if it is a little short...
But I have an excuse, really! My birthday is on *gasp* April 1st and
I wanted to get the chapter out by then and wrap up that loooong day
in the story.

Anyway, to those who asked, there you have it: Ryoga's nicer
and Minako's finally caught up with the Lost Boy. What do you think?
Personally, I thought the 'reunion' with the two was rather lacking,
but I've thought stuff like that before, only to get surprised by
the number of people who told me otherwise.

Hmmm... still not much action, but this chapter's pretty short
and just wraps up that long, day that spanned a whole chapter. Don't
worry, action will come... eventually.

I have enough prereaders now, by the way, so don't ask. I've
got like... 8 or something of them and that's quite enough! You're
volunteering is appreciated, but I've got enough now.

Oh, speaking of them, to those of you out there who aren't my
prereaders, you don't have to go correct the story of spelling errors
and then mail it to me! It's appreciated, but all it does is pretty up
my personal copy of the Chapter x and make me feel guilty.

And finally, send those C&C in folks, those were what really
got me back into writing shape during those last two weeks! You can
find me at my email address,

kaosqu@hotmail.com
My Instant Messenger SN: pongben
My ICQ #: 26695439
Or, you can post messages and start mass discussions on Sound
Hearts at the Ranma fanfic forum I check every day or so.

http://www.delphi.com/ranma_fanfics/start

Go on and see what I have to think on such subjects as 'What
makes a good fanfic' and 'How to get more people to visit the
Forum'. ^_^

Really, please go check it out and post up whatever subject
you want to discuss. Consider it your birthday present to me. ^_^

Anyway, here is where I give thanks, etc. to certain people,
such as my prereaders.

Thanks to Tannim and VGAP for posting my stories, of course.
Keep updating those pages, guys!

Thanks to BattleKrome, for the help with those ICQ conversations
and the help with the MP3s. And of course, prereading.

Go check out his site at: http://members.xoom.com/Battlekrome/
If you happen to see a MSTK there with me as a guest sometime in the
future, uh... pretend it's not really me, my ego will last longer.

Then to my prereaders. All the originals, Windmage, Vidwizzard,
Chet, and Will. Particularly Chet for checking up on my progress every
now and then and Vidwizzard for the AIM conversations and help with
that metaphor; Windmage for the massive amount of critique and Will
for the character descriptions that will come in handy.

Check out Vid's site at: http://ryogahibiki.tripod.com/
He also hosts "Sound Hearts"

And now all the new prereaders.

First is SONNY, the first of my 'new prereaders' if you will.
Thanks go to him not only for prereading but for being the first
person to ask me to pre-read for them.

Thanks to Pauli for prereading, of course. Go check out his
webpage, there's not much on it now, but it's got some cool
colorized Ranma Manga pages:

http://www.geocities.com/psavola/

Thanks to Chris for his prereading and doubling the size of
the chapter. ^_^ And sorry about rushing the preread.

Apologies to Deus for not being able to get Ch.3 to you for
prereading. If you're reading this, get that e-mail problem fixed!
Unless it's me and not you...

And Jeff. I don't even know what happened to you. Hope you'll
preread chapter 4 though...

Well, that's all folks! Thanks for reading through the author's
notes and I hope you enjoyed the chapter!

KaosQu
kaosqu@hotmail.com